Sarah L. Deck, Martine B. Powell, Sonja P. Brubacher, Helen M. Paterson and Ronald P. Fisher
When an event unfolds in a similar way on multiple occasions, investigators often need information about specific episodes. This study aims to gain new insights into strategies…
Abstract
Purpose
When an event unfolds in a similar way on multiple occasions, investigators often need information about specific episodes. This study aims to gain new insights into strategies for eliciting episodic details about a repeated event by exploring the perspectives and approaches of experienced professionals sampled across a diverse range of fields.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors sampled 16 professionals from various fields, including medicine, law and other groups (e.g., airline investigator), who were highly experienced in their roles and who regularly interview people about repeated events. The professionals were asked about their approach to eliciting episodic details, and their responses were subjected to thematic qualitative analysis.
Findings
The professionals’ approach was broadly consistent with evidence-based recommendations; however, some promising avenues for further research exploration emerged – particularly the use of external evidence as retrieval cues and mental context reinstatement.
Originality/value
This research uses a relatively novel methodological approach by sampling professionals with extensive experience across diverse professional fields. The findings highlight the widespread applicability of repeated-event research and the need to broaden the current research scope to enhance its relevance and impact in the field.
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Carla L. MacLean, Veronica Stinson, E. Kevin Kelloway and Ronald P. Fisher
Industrial incident investigations determine what caused an adverse workplace event so that preventative measures can be instituted and reduce the risk of such incidents happening…
Abstract
Purpose
Industrial incident investigations determine what caused an adverse workplace event so that preventative measures can be instituted and reduce the risk of such incidents happening again. Investigators gather evidence from multiple sources in an investigation and one such source is the people in, or around, the industrial incident. The purpose of the current study is to examine if recall strategy could affect eyewitnesses' recollections of a workplace incident.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study is a 3 (Post‐Event Context: Think, Filler, Discuss)×2 (Incident Investigation Form: Psychologically‐Based vs. Standard Investigation Form) between‐subjects factorial design. Participant‐witnesses watched a simulated videotaped workplace incident (n=196) then either: thought about the event, discussed it with fellow witnesses, or engaged in an unrelated task. Subsequently, participants recalled the details of the adverse event on an incident report form: a Standard Investigation Form or a form based on principles of cognition (Psychologically‐Based Form).
Findings
Compared to the Standard Investigation Form condition, eyewitnesses in the Psychologically‐Based Form condition recalled significantly more pieces of accurate information at a reduced accuracy rate. Post‐event context produced no significant differences in participant‐witnesses' reporting.
Practical implications
The data suggest that incorporating some principles of memory and cognition into incident investigations have the potential to enhance accurate recollection of a workplace event.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to apply psychological theory to enhance eyewitness reports of an industrial incident. In so doing this research contributes to recent literature that explores eyewitness recall for industrial events.
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Beth Blankenship and Peter B. Petersen
W. Edwards Deming, famous for his work with the Japanese following the Second World War, had a unique set of theories and approaches that were clearly his own. While much has been…
Abstract
W. Edwards Deming, famous for his work with the Japanese following the Second World War, had a unique set of theories and approaches that were clearly his own. While much has been written about his experience and views, this article will focus on those individuals who made a significant impact on the formation of his views during the 1920s and 1930s and what he gained from each of them. Walter A. Shewhart was clearly the individual who had the most profound influence on Deming’s views and subsequent approaches to quality. But more than an influence, Shewhart was Deming’s mentor. Others who influenced Deming during this period include: Clarence Irving Lewis, Sir Ronald A. Fisher, and Jerzy Neyman. Those who wish to understand Deming’s theories can gain from studying Deming’s experience and views. In addition, a more detailed understanding of Deming can be gained by also studying the work and theories of those who influenced him.
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Ruth Kinzel and Ronald J. Fisher
This study examined the relationships among ethnocentrism, group cohesion, and constituent pressure in either competitive or collaborative directions within the context of a…
Abstract
This study examined the relationships among ethnocentrism, group cohesion, and constituent pressure in either competitive or collaborative directions within the context of a complex simulation of intergroup conflict. The simulation elicited both a value and an economic conflict over scarce resources and their development in which pairs of groups negotiated through representatives to reach a settlement. The results from 32 four‐person groups of college males were based on self‐report questionnaires and behavioral codings from videotapes of the simulation sessions. With the questionnaire data, ethnocentrism, group cohesion, and constituent pressure were significantly related at three different measurement points and when averaged over the entire simulation. Behavioral ratings of ethnocentrism were positively correlated with behavioral measures of constituent pressure to compete and negatively with pressure to collaborate. These results provide empirical support for the effects of cohesion and ethnocentrism on conflict management behavior in line with realistic group conflict theory.
Purpose – This study demonstrates that serious episodes of presidential ill health can have positive impacts on role performance…
Abstract
Purpose – This study demonstrates that serious episodes of presidential ill health can have positive impacts on role performance.
Design/methodology – The author utilizes both primary source materials (personal interviews with White House physicians and several other physicians who treated Reagan at the hospital, and the writings of key Reagan aides and family members) and secondary source materials (writings of political scientists, historians, and journalists).
Findings – Reagan was at first in critical condition. It was then that his Secretary of State appeared to make a bold grab for power, an act that contributed materially to the end of his political career. Additionally, the administration’s failure to invoke the presidential disability amendment allowed the official chain of command to be in doubt. Finally, the significant increase in Reagan’s popularity that flowed from his light-hearted demeanor after he was shot is examined here in terms of the President’s subsequent legislative successes.
Originality/value – This study suggests strongly that Reagan’s impressive legislative achievements in mid-1981 were due significantly to his heroic response to having been shot.
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Martin W. Rempel and Ronald J. Fisher
This study examined the impact of perceived threat and cohesion on the ability of groups to solve problems in a situation of social conflict. The self‐reports and behaviors of 31…
Abstract
This study examined the impact of perceived threat and cohesion on the ability of groups to solve problems in a situation of social conflict. The self‐reports and behaviors of 31 groups of college males were studied within a comprehensive, strategic simulation of intergroup conflict. The simulation was based on both a value conflict and an economic competition over scarce resources. A coding scheme for group problem solving was created based in part on Janis' seven symptoms of groupthink. Change scores were calculated over different points in time to assess the relationships among perceived threat, group cohesion, and dysfunctional group problem solving. Large increases in perceived threat were significantly related to decrements in problem‐solving effectiveness regardless of whether cohesion was stable or increased. Groups who reported high and increasing levels of cohesion experienced a decrement in problem solving regardless of the increase in perceived threat, while groups who showed small changes in cohesion demonstrated decreased problem solving under high perceived threat. The results were consistent with Janis' model of groupthink, and Fisher's eclectic model of intergroup conflict.
Jill A. Fisher and Lorna M. Ronald
Purpose – This chapter explores the pharmaceutical industry's strategic utilization of empowerment discourse in two realms: direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) and clinical drug…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter explores the pharmaceutical industry's strategic utilization of empowerment discourse in two realms: direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) and clinical drug development.
Methodology – It draws upon two research projects that examine the role of the pharmaceutical industry in the political economy of healthcare in the United States: Ronald's policy analysis and participant observation of DTCA policy hearings and Fisher's participant observation and interviewing of the clinical trials industry.
Findings – Empowerment rhetoric is mobilized by the pharmaceutical industry to create specific expectations about patient-consumer behavior, particularly the responsibilities associated with the consumption of drugs.
Research implications – The social and economic implications of DTCA and drug trials must be understood within their broader historical and contemporary contexts of health advocacy, consumerism, and medical neoliberalism.
Practical implications – The chapter offers alternative constructions of healthcare subjects and pharmaceutical practices that can mitigate the power of the pharmaceutical industry and bring about better pharmaceutical governance.
Originality/value of chapter – By analyzing findings from two empirical projects, this chapter is able to shed light on trends in the pharmaceutical industry's discourse about empowerment and consumption from the clinical testing to marketing of new drugs.
This paper sets out to explore how the principles developed by Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher, FRS (1890‐1962), a gifted British evolutionary biologist, geneticist and statistician, can…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sets out to explore how the principles developed by Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher, FRS (1890‐1962), a gifted British evolutionary biologist, geneticist and statistician, can be applied in today's retail environment to estimate new customers becoming visible through your loyalty or database marketing program – customers whom we like to call “faux‐new” customers. Here, we have used the word “faux” to mean “fake” or “false” – customers who look new in the next month (because we did not observe them in the first month), but are indeed customers (because they made a purchase before the first month, a month for which we do not have data). That is, there are “faux‐new” customers and “actual‐new” customers whom we will observe in the second month.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses data and statistics from numerous loyalty‐marketing programs to support its conclusions. It investigates a technique discussed by R.A. Fisher in counting species and applies the technique toward counting customers. It showcases the Poisson distribution assumption in modeling customer frequency of purchases.
Findings
The study found the technique to be robust against a large real‐world data set: the technique was predictive despite some dubious assumptions.
Practical implications
When statisticians and marketers attempt to estimate new customer growth rates, they must be careful. It is tempting to estimate the monthly growth in your customer base by observing the number of customers in July, and then observe the number of “new” customers in August. In this case, however, the results would be overestimated. Many customers who transacted in August but not in July are not actually “new” customers – they are “faux‐new” customers. They could very well have transacted in April (assuming that one does not have the luxury of observing months before July). To estimate the actual number of new customers, it is necessary first to need to strip out the number of customers that were estimated “zero‐purchase,” or “faux‐new,” customers in July.
Originality/value
This paper explores innovative statistical techniques for marketers and business analysts who estimate customer growth based on multiple periods of customer transactions.
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Michael Matthews, Thomas Kelemen, M. Ronald Buckley and Marshall Pattie
Patriotism is often described as the “love of country” that individuals display in the acclamation of their national community. Despite the prominence of this sentiment in various…
Abstract
Patriotism is often described as the “love of country” that individuals display in the acclamation of their national community. Despite the prominence of this sentiment in various societies around the world, organizational research on patriotism is largely absent. This omission is surprising because entrepreneurs, human resource (HR) divisions, and firms frequently embrace both patriotism and patriotic organizational practices. These procedures include (among other interventions) national symbol embracing, HR practices targeted toward military members and first responders, the adulation of patriots and celebration of patriotic events, and patriotic-oriented corporate social responsibility (CSR). Here, the authors argue that research on HR management and organization studies will likely be further enhanced with a deeper understanding of the national obligation that can spur employee productivity and loyalty. In an attempt to jumpstart the collective understanding of this phenomenon, the authors explore the antecedents of patriotic organizational practices, namely, the effects of founder orientation, employee dispersion, and firm strategy. It is suggested that HR practices such as these lead to a patriotic organizational image, which in turn impacts investor, customer, and employee responses. Notably, the effect of a patriotic organizational image on firm-related outcomes is largely contingent on how it fits with the patriotic views of other stakeholders, such as investors, customers, and employees. After outlining this model, the authors then present a thought experiment of how this model may appear in action. The authors then discuss ways the field can move forward in studying patriotism in HR management and organizational contexts by outlining several future directions that span multiple levels (i.e., micro and macro). Taken together, in this chapter, the authors introduce a conversation of something quite prevalent and largely unheeded – the patriotic organization.